Aussie iron brings big prices

At the same Shannons Sydney Summer auction, a 1988 Holden VL Walkinshaw Group A SS sedan brought $Au73,000 after a floor and telephone bidding duel.

Two white-on-white right-hand drive 1959 Cadillacs, featured in Auto Trader, recently sold for a combined $Au171,000.

Among the more affordable sales on the evening, spirited bidding saw a 1973 Holden HQ Monaro GTS 350 sedan bring the hammer down at $Au37,000, while its opposite Ford number – a 1973 Falcon XB GT sedan – went for $Au35,000 after an equally passionate duel.

The top money paid on the evening was $Au109,000 for the 1959 Cadillac Series 62 Convertible that had been fully restored and mechanically refreshed in 2000 at considerable expense. The matching white with white and metallic silver flake interior Cadillac Series 60 Special Fleetwood pillarless hardtop

sold above expectations for $Au62,000 against a pre-auction estimate of $Au45,000-$55,000. The near $100,000 VH Charger

R/T E38 (pictured) was believed to have been an original Chrysler press vehicle. The vehicle had all the correct E38

Bathurst mechanicals, but not all from the original vehicle, indicating that E38 Chargers are now enjoying a surge of popularity.

A one-owner fully restored matching-numbers example sold for $Au128,000 at the 2006 Sydney Motor Show auction, while an early and very original R/T E38 in “Hot Mustard” is expected to sell for $Au90,000-$120,000 at Shannons’ upcoming Melbourne Motor Show auction on March 12.

Two Group A SS VL Commodores from the mid-1980s went under the hammer at the auction, but while the 1986 Brock model (below) failed to meet its reserve, the 1988 “Walkinshaw” model with only 16,630km on its odometer sold after spirited bidding.

Other interesting sales at the auction included $Au17,000 for a red 1971 MGB Mark II Roadster in excellent restored condition; $AU17,100 for a lovely original Type 1 VW Karmann Ghia that was a former Canberra Volkswagen Club show car and $Au15,000 for a rare left hand drive Falcon-based 1963 Ford Ranchero with a small block V8 engine and four-speed manual gearbox.